Home Trending Latest threads New posts Developer diaries

Giovanni Messe's Glory of Rome: An Independent Italy HOI3 AAR

Jump to latest Follow Reply
  • We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Gen. Marshall said:
Ethiopia stands firm :p
Click to expand...

Well, we could destroy them any time we want.

blklizard said:
How many carriers can Italy field at the moment? Is it possible for you to starve out the Ethiopian capital by just holding?

At the moment, it does seem like your main focus is becoming a naval power. I guess controlling the Mediterranean will be your priority in the upcoming war.
Click to expand...

Right now, we can't field any carriers. We just figured out how to build them but we'll be building a couple of soon. A capital can't starve even under seige because all the supplies originate in a capital. Controlling the Med is definitely a priority but we're not neglecting the land forces.
 
Oh is Tibet the place to be these days? I know Haiti used to be it and later Lithuania (at least with Germany) was hosting the party but I thought they fixed it.
 
not to be a tease or anything but I'm playing the game quite far ahead of the AAR. I just hit a "WTF" moment in the game in 1940 and I think if you keep reading, you'll find it really interesting! I'm going to refrain from playing for a few days to get you guys caught up a little closer before I move forward!
 
Part 6

From the personal journal of Giovanni Messe:

At the end of the first year of action, our efforts were starting pay off. Sixteen infantry divisions now had a regiment of artillery attached but that was a small fragment of what we would ultimately need.



Our infantry, the backbone of the Regia Esercito (Army) had received better equipment and better training but our research team feels that more progress can be made before we anticipate our real wars beginning. In six months, we will secretly withdraw our combat troops and militia from Africa, reorganize them and retrain our milita units into regular infantry.

My latest briefing with Mussolini has enlightened me on the brilliant work our espionage corps have been doing. They have infiltrated the French society and made the normally peace loving French appear to be war-mongering neanderthals. Additionally, this perceived threat should make our citizenry much more open to our coming declarations of war against countries to the east. This will enable our people to feel that we are in a much stronger position from which to deal with the French when that time comes. It's all rather thrilling to be on the inside of these Machivellian machinations.
 
Part 7

From the personal journal of Giovanni Messe:

Is it really 1938 already? Already two years have passed since I took my new role at the top of the Italian military. In addition to briefing Il Duce, I am briefing King Victor Emmanuel III. Even though it has been over 10 years since I was the King's aide-de-camp (a post that I was honoured to hold for four years), His Royal Highness has rekindled our relationship since I've returned to Rome requesting bi-weekly meetings which have become much more than the usual military briefing. He expressed some deep conflicts about the direction of the current regime. He wasn't against going to war per se (having personally committed Italy to the Great War) but he certainly was wary of the catastrophic results of a failure. I, of course, could not reveal these concerns to Mussolini but I took care to keep the King's wishes to heart while I drew up my plans.

The plans were progressing perfectly. We had made major progress in several areas. Our next generation of aircraft carriers would be far more capable and, thanks to new doctrines and infantry equipment as well as the addition of artillery regiments, our infantry would pack a far more powerful punch in each division.



We had constructed dummy units in Ethopia while we brought our units back to Italy. That didn't fool the Africans and they took back their entire land. As long as the people here still believe we're at war, it really doesn't matter what land we control thousands of kilometers away.



Il Duce tells me that the Germans want to bring Italy into his "Axis" and has made strong overtures. We resist as Il Duce is determined to stay independent. Il Duce has told me that he has knowledge of Hitler's plans in Germany, which is one of the benefits of the Italian Empire being courted for Axis membership. From what I've gathered from Mussolini, Hitler has been rather loose-lipped about his plans. In the coming months, we will be able to use the cover of Germany's actions to begin our mission to bring glory back to Rome.
 
How are engineers different from your normal infantry?

From your last line, I interpret that you declined the offer to enter the Axis. What are you planning :p? Maybe the SU has provided a better offer.
 
blklizard said:
How are engineers different from your normal infantry?

From your last line, I interpret that you declined the offer to enter the Axis. What are you planning :p? Maybe the SU has provided a better offer.
Click to expand...

Engineers are a regiment-sized support unit (1000 men) that help the division do things like attack over rivers. Infantry is a core-type, brigade-sized (3000 men) unit that is really the bread and butter of the Italian army.

Yes, we're declining to enter the Axis. As is mentioned in the title of the post, we're going to keep Italy independent to become the dominant force in Europe!
 
Part 8: The War Begins (March 9, 1938)

220px-Benito_Mussolini_Roman_Salute.jpg


From the personal journal of Giovanni Messe:

On March 9, 1938, I stood and watched as Mussolini made a rousing speech to the Italian people. “Today marks the beginning of the future of Italy! The French threat has pushed us to maneuver to the east. Like our fascist friends to our north, they have begun to unite the German people by reclaiming the German lands of Austria! Their 'Anschluss,' joining Germany and Austria will make Germany stronger to defend against France! Here in Italy, we will take the lands that once belonged to Rome and to Venice. We will bring those people back into the empire to defend our homeland! Their armies may fight us but we will prevail and it will make us stronger! Their armies may fight us but the people will welcome us with open arms as liberators. Their armies may fight us but Italy will emerge victorious and in a better position to face the coming threats across the face of Europe and beyond!”

The crowd cheered. Little did they know that many of the healthy, able-bodied men among them would soon be pressed into service for the King and our leader. This was only the beginning of a grand plan that would see Italian dominance.

Many would die. I’ve seen lots of war but that was one of my reasons for investing so heavily in training and equipment. Now that we’re at war, we’ll invest in researching new medical techniques to keep casualties down.



Army Group East was preparing its attack. With 254,000 men standing by, the attack would be led by 1st Army, consisting of eight infantry divisions (divided between I and II Infantry Corps) and our three new light armoured divisions. First Army would attack along the northern border, sweeping southwards through Ljubljana and Zagreb.



Third Army, consisting of another eight infantry divisions in the XXI and XXII Infantry Corps, would be inserted in Zara and would fan out, heading south and east. Third Army would be supported by our militia units who were waiting for retraining but were available to take a supporting role in the coming war.



The 90,000 men of Fourth Army, led by General Pintor, consisting of 11 infantry divisions in XXXI, XXXII and XXXIII Corps would follow closely behind 1st army and attack Hungary when they could get into position. When the First and Third Armies linked up to form a coherent line of attack, elements of the first army (likely the Armoured Corps) would disengage to assist in Hungary.



Time was of the essence. Germany had its own agenda and Italy needed to strike to get some of the rich provinces in Czechoslovakia before Germany took them for itself.
 
Time is of the essence indeed, better have Hungary annexed before Germany invites them to the Axis ;). Enjoyable updates to say the least!
 
Part 9: The Single Front War (March 9 to April 11, 1938)

From the personal journal of Giovanni Messe:

In the early going, it was clear that we had achieved complete surprise over the Yugoslavs. This had two benefits. The first was that it would keep our casualty count down and the second was that it would speed up our eventual victory and enable us to move our troops into position for our next enemy.



The battle began at 2200, and our units in Zara were in place early the next morning. In the first battles, it was clear that the Yugoslavians were taking the worst of the battle, with many times the numbers of casualties. While our casualty reporting was spotty coming in from our commanders total of the figures from 11 battles raging before the end of March had the Yugoslavs suffering 1778 fatalities with just 570 men lost on our side.

In just over a week (by March 17 at the latest), our two separate spearheads had been consolidated into one cohesive line of battle without any holes as our troops were marching consistently southeast.



We were making slower progress in the far northwest of the country but that was actually serving to trap a number of Yugoslav units between our troops, the German and the Hungarian borders.



The Fourth Army kept moving behind the lines to take up positions at the Hungarian borders and as the Third Army continued to push a wedge towards Belgrade, elements of the First Army were getting prepared to help the Fourth Army out in Hungary, maintaining their positions on the border once they had reached it (as opposed to pushing further south and east).

Despite the battles raging in Yugoslavia, our research teams continued to make progress, reporting breakthroughs in the areas of industrial production, artillery, infantry support weapons, infantry anti-tank weapons and infantry doctrines through the first period of our European campaign

By April 11, it was clear that we were in position for victory. Our troops had a powerful spearhead that was moving inexorably towards the Yugoslav capital.



Equally reassuring, our forces were in position on the Hungarian border and were ready to begin part two of our Spring Offensive, opening up a second front in the war.



All that remained was to inform the Hungarian ambassador that they were now in a state of war with the great nation of Italy!

 
Racing against time to gain the most favorable advantage. Things are going smoothly but you still have quite a bit of tasks ahead of you. How much resistance would Hungary put up?
 
blklizard said:
Racing against time to gain the most favorable advantage. Things are going smoothly but you still have quite a bit of tasks ahead of you. How much resistance would Hungary put up?
Click to expand...

"None whatsoever" is probably the best description ;)

Now, when you go to war against the Allies, things will sure as hell get interesting. And then there's that surprise you talked about...
 
I can't help but wonder what your threat will look like, if you continue like this. Could be that if it goes high enough, Germany decides to launch a southwards Barbarossa instead.

I'm looking foward to seeing how this pans out. Keep up the good work. Avanti, Italia! and all that jazz.
 
blklizard said:
Racing against time to gain the most favorable advantage. Things are going smoothly but you still have quite a bit of tasks ahead of you. How much resistance would Hungary put up?
Click to expand...

Gen. Marshall said:
"None whatsoever" is probably the best description ;)

Now, when you go to war against the Allies, things will sure as hell get interesting. And then there's that surprise you talked about...
Click to expand...

We shall see, won't we!

Willum said:
I can't help but wonder what your threat will look like, if you continue like this. Could be that if it goes high enough, Germany decides to launch a southwards Barbarossa instead.

I'm looking foward to seeing how this pans out. Keep up the good work. Avanti, Italia! and all that jazz.
Click to expand...

Right now, relations are very good with Germany. We hope that we don't have to face off with them before we're ready . . .
 
Part 10: A Second Front Opens (April 11 - May 1, 1938)

From the personal journal of Giovanni Messe:

"Marshall Messe! What good news do you bring me?" I heard ringing in Benito Mussolini's jovial voice when I arrived at 0800 to report on the progress of our troops in Hungary and Yugoslavia.

"There is much good news, Duce, as I'm sure you've heard from the Foreign Ministry. I am pleased to report that the attacks went off better than we might have hoped.



"While there was one battle in Hungary, that of Lenti, in which things were in doubt to begin, once we deployed our tactical bombers to soften up the enemy infantry, we were able to conclude the battle with far fewer casualties on our side.



"By April 18, we had begun our assault on the Yugoslavian capital, Belgrade with three divisions, led by General Frusci. Despite only one Garrison division defending, it still took three days to enter the city but once we did, the Yugoslavians had no choice but to lay down their arms, ceding to Italy after just six weeks of battle.





"In Hungary, the fighting was somewhat fiercer and the battle to take the capital of Budapest, which began on April 26 with General Calvi de Bergolo in command of two divisions (with two more in reserve), raged for three days, ending with a victory. Just this morning, as you heard from the Foreign Ministry, Hungary capitulated and we took over."





"Yes, indeed. I am very pleased with your work so far Marshall Messe. You have delivered exactly what you have promised," Mussolini said.

"Thank you, Duce. I am pleased that the campaign has gone completely as planned so far. Complications would result in many more Italian mothers losing their sons."

"Yes. We must keep as many of them alive as possible. Now tell me, Messe, what's next?"

"Next, you will have to work some diplomatic magic with your friend, Herr Hitler. To strengthen ourselves and to weaken Germany, we must go after the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia which has a strong automotive industry which will help us build a modern, armoured corps. We will maintain a two-front system and claim Bulgaria and her Black Sea ports for ourselves as well at the same time."

"Good, good. Don't let me stop you, Messe. We both have work to be done. You work your magic and I'll work mine!"

As I left Mussolini's office I wondered how he would placate Hitler. I knew that Germany had its eye on the Sudetenland but it wasn't my job to make the German leader happy. It was my job to win battles.
 
How big an impact would losing Sudentenland and Czechoslovakia have on Germany? Italy is making steady progress but would you have to compete for Sudentenland with Germany? What exactly are your plans once you met your current objectives?
 
blklizard said:
How big an impact would losing Sudentenland and Czechoslovakia have on Germany? Italy is making steady progress but would you have to compete for Sudentenland with Germany? What exactly are your plans once you met your current objectives?
Click to expand...

Thanks for reading blklizard! Well, I think you'll see the impact of losing Czechoslovakia a little bit later in the AAR. I don't want to give away too much but the overall plan is to remain independent and overtake Germany as the supreme power in Europe!
 
Part 11: The Two-Front War Continues (May 1 - June 11, 1938)

From the personal journal of Giovanni Messe:

After the fall of Hungary there was still no time to become complacent. First and Fourth Armies would also turn north once again. Il Duce had confided in me that Hitler had his eyes on the German regions of Czechoslovakia and yet we felt that if we were going be able to rival the Germans for European supremacy, we would need to have as many resources under Italian control as possible. With our troops moving into position, we would take a few days to recover and then, once again, plunge our troops into battle. With their confidence growing, our troops would be dominant in the region.

Having procured our victory in Yugoslavia just eight days earlier, the Third Army, under the command of General Grazioli, was already poised near the Bulgarian border with almost 66,000 men and those divisions would be trusted to secure a quick victory, gaining us ports in the Black Sea. It would still take a few weeks to position the troops and Grazioli had suggested to me that several of our militia divisions (which were awaiting retraining and upgrades) could be of use, following behind the main thrust to hold certain sectors. They were dispatched but were not likely to arrive until after the offensive began.

I received a status report from our procurement and training office that morning. We were producing anti-tank equipment and training regiments to join our 11 divisions in the Alps along the French border. When those were done, we would, build artillery units to join them. Following that project, we would retrain and re-equip most of our militia units, adding additional firepower of artillery and anti-tank units to bring them up to snuff for the next phase in our plan to dominate the continent.

By May 14, our forces at the border in Czechoslovakia were ready to go as Mussolini informed the Czech ambassador that we were now in a state of war. In a speech to the Italian people, Il Duce announced that French interlopers were breaching our border from Czechoslovakia and that, with the security of our nation at stake, we could not risk any foreign interlopers. We would extend our borders to meet our fellow fascists in Germany.



The Fourth Army would do the bulk of the fighting and head towards Prague while the First Army would fundamentally be a blocking force with militia divisions covering the few provinces in the far east of the country where resistance wasn’t expected. Our small armoured corps would advance from Salgotarjan and cut through the country side, offering assistance on either side of their line. They could move without a river blocking their path across the border and then proceed west or east as needed.



We achieved complete tactical surprise in Czechoslovakia mainly because the Czechs could not believe our audacity in declaring war. Hopefully we could conclude this campaign quickly and without many casualties.

With our troops in place on May 18 at midnight, we declared war on Bulgaria although I don’t think that Il Duce even informed the Italian people that our troops were still in the region.





While our low number of troops in the area were making the going slow, we were making steady progress by the end of that week. Troops were advancing in a “C” shape around the capital of Sofia and should begin assaulting the city soon.



In Czechoslovakia, General Graziani, commander of Army Group East, reported that some of the divisions were slow to move up behind the leaders. Despite some laggards, Graziani particularly commended General Gandin’s 5th “Cosseria” division for reaching Hodonin and surviving a vicious Czech counterattack that raged for three days, costing hundreds of lives, and General Nicolosi’s 26th “Assietta” Division, currently embroiled against two Czech divisions, trying to take Breclav. More divisions were flooding in behind them and our spearhead should be consolidated soon. In the east, the milita divisions were not taking much fire and had already closed up the gap, keeping all of the Czech forces in the western half of the country.





In late May, Il Duce passed along word that both Romania and Greece were mobilizing their armies. This news could mean that both countries would be more challenging to conquer. No matter. A harder fight would toughen our troops even more.

On May 30th, we finally attached support regiments with anti-tank weaponry to our troops near the French border. We were waiting for artillery units to finish training and we would finally have our troops fully prepared. We immediately began to prepare to defend the areas we have captured, beginning training of garrison units to handle security for our ports.

By June 4, our Czech spearhead was just a few miles from Prague. Capturing the Czech capital would surely end the fighting there. Having routed a Czech armoured division, Generals Frattini and Volpini were marching on Kutna Hora on the outskirts of Prague. Frattini had said that his goal was to march into the city and close off the ancient Charles Bridge from any challengers who might come from the other side.

Back in Czechoslovakia, Generals Frattini and Volpini threw themselves into an offensive against Prague despite an open right flank, knowing that their compatriots would catch up. With the battle already begun in Prague, Generals Infante and Dalmazzo were ordered to get their divisions across the Labe river immediately to provide even more cover for the assault on Prague.



On June 6, our troops had arrived in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia but the war was not yet won. We would still need to push on to Plovdiv and Varna at the coast. The three militia divisions had finally arrived to make sure that there were no holes in the lines.

Just as Prague was being taken in Czechoslovakia and the country's surrender was assured, our forces finally prevailed in the bloody battle of Sopot, Bulgaria in which 2057 of our troops were killed.



I sat for a moment and thought about our young troops in the fight. I knew lives would be lost in this great campaign and this battle contributed to our greatest losses. The Italian people must stell themselves to lose their sons and brothers if Il Duce’s dream would survive.
 
The resistance in Bulgaria seemed to be more fierce but at least progress hasn't been slowed down. Don't know why but I'm getting the feeling that you want a chunk of France as well. Will we see some action at the Alpine Line then?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back